Process for the production of carbon-black together with combustible gas.



W. H. FROST & J. J. NIX. i PROCESS TOR THE PRODUCTION OT CARBON BLACKTOGETHER WITH COMBUSTIBLE CAS. APPLICATION FILED MAB.. 24, 1909.

977,000. Patented NOV. 29, 1910 2 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

uiliwlllv mwN-mm@ W. H. FROST C J. J. NIX. A PROCESS FCR THE PRODUCTIONCF CARBON .BLACK TOGETHER WITH COMBUSTIBLE CAS. APPLICATION IILBDMAB..24, 1909. @Tm Patented Nov. 29, 1910.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2 UNITED sTATEs PATENT oEEIoE. l'

WARREN H. FROST AND JOSHUA J. NIX, 0F LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA; SAID NIXASSIGNOR TO SAID FROST.

PROCESS IIFOR- THE PRODUCTION 0F CARBON-BLACK TOGETHER GAS.

WITH COMBUSTIBLE Specication of Letters Patent. Patented NOV, 29,A 1910,

Application filed March 24, 1909. Serial No. 485,534.

` geles, in the county of Los Angeles and State of California, haveinventedva new and useful Process for the Production of Carbon- BlackTogether with Combustible Gas, of Which the following is aspeciflcation.

. The main object of the present invention -is to provide in a singleprocess for the etlicient and economical production from petroleum ofcarbon black together with combustible gas.

Other objects of the invention will appear hereinafter.

The petroleum or oil used in the present process is preferably crudeoil, for example,

Californiacrude oil or the like.

In the process forming the subject vof the present invention oil issubjected to heat in a closed chamber, the heat being produced bycombustion of a portion of the oil Within the chamber, such combustionbeing' supported by admission or supply of a limited quantity ofatmospheric air, and the products of combustion are drawn away from saidchamber at such a rate that a condition of partial vacuum or suction ismaintained Within the chamber and the said particles of combustion areprevented from smothering or deadening the tlame. IVe have found itpossible by this means to maintain continuous combustion and generationof gas, in a manner that is not possible when the oil and the airforsupporting combustion are forced into the chamber when the latter isunder a condition of pressure. In this connection the present inventionprovides for application of the oil with a minimum of expansive medium,thereby correspondingly increasing the volume of expansive fluid Whichhas to'be withdrawn from the chamber to maintain the condition ofsuction. Thus We have found that by maintaining a condition ofrelatively low' temperature in the combustion chamber, considerabletarry matter is produced. As the temperature is increased, by increasingthe suction in the combustion chamber, the amount of tarry matter isdecreased and some lamp black may be produced, and at the same time theamount of gas produced is increased. At a certain temperature, which maybe termed the critical l temperature of theprocess, the amount of gasproduced 1s a maximum, small amounts of tarry matter or oflamp black orvb oth being produced at the same time, and if the process is beingutilized for gas making only, 1t yvlll be carried on, as nearly as maybe, at this temperature. On further increasing theJ suction, withcorresponding rise of temperature, the amount of lamp black isincreased, tlietarry matter and the illuminants being broken up into gasand lamp black,.and if the process is being utilized for lamp blackproduction it will be carried on atthis high temperature. In any case Wehave found that by means of the suctional process described, the lampblack may be produced in a substantially dry condition; that is, Withoutadmixture of tar so that it is in condition for recovery and utilizationas a commercial product.

The accompanying drawings illustrate an apparatus suitable for carryingout the process.

Figure 1 is a plan of the apparatus part-ly in section. Fig. 2 is avertical section of the apparatus. Fig. 3 is a vertical section on theline 3-3 Fig. 2.. Fig. 4 is a horizontal section on the line mtr-m4 Fig.2. Fig. 5 is an elevation of the apparatus, showing a complete powersystem, using the produced gas.

The apparatus comprises a retort or gen1 erator chamber 1, a means 2 forseparating the dry lamp black, a scrubber 3, and an exhauster 4, theseseveral 'parts being connected in continuous series by suitable piping.The retorty or generator chamber 1 is made of suit-able refractorymaterial and has an inlet 5 at which is placed a burner or oil atomizingdevice 6. An oil pump 7 is supplied with oil from an oil supply pipe 8and forces the same through a heating means 9 to the burner 6, a valve1() being provided to control the supply. The air supplied forcombustion may also be preheated by passing through a heated drum orchamber 12 before passing to the air box 13 which delivers it to theinlet 5 aforesaid. Means 14 are provided vfor controlling the supply ofair. From the upper part of the generator chamber 1 extends a. stack oroutlet pipe .16 and a delivery pipe 17 extends horizontally from saidstack to the cooler. From the delivery pipe 17 a purge pipe or stack 18extends vertically and is provided with a valve or shut-off 19 having acounter-Weight 21 to hold it in either open or closed position.

The purpose of the cooler 2 is to provide a cool surface on which thelamp black or free carbon will be deposited. For convenience in cleaningor clearing, this cooler .is preferably made in duplicate, comprisingtwo or more vertical pipes connected at their uppervends by a horizontalcross pipe 20 with the delivery pipe 17 from the generator, a valve 26being provided to direct the flow to either pipe 20. The lower ends oflsaid pipes 20 extend respectively into hoppers or receptacles 22, slidevalves or cut-offs 23 being provided whereby either one of said pipes 20can be closed or cut off from communication with the correspondinghopper, and slide valves or cutoifs 24' being -with the oil 'pump 7 andthe oil burner 6 to heat-the oil in its passage from the pump to burner.Additional cooling means is shown consisting of a water drum 27surrounding the lower parts of the pipes 20 and provided with waterinlet and outlet pipes 28, 29. Lamp black will be deposited 1n greateror less measure throughout the pipes 20 and the communicating meansleading thereto.

and in order to dislodge thelamp black and remove the same from thepipes, cleaning means are provided, consisting of spiral blade cleaners31 mounted on stems 32 sliding through boxes 33 at the upper ends of thepipes 20, at both ends of the cross pipe 20" and at one or both ends ofthe delivery pipe 17.

The gas is delivered from the lower portion of the pipes 2O by aY-connection 34, see Fig. 4, having a valve 35 to direct the flow of gasfrom' one or the other of the pipes 20 to the outlet pipe 36 leading tothe scrubber 3. Said scrubber may be of any suitable construction,comprising, for ex-l ample, means 38 for injecting a spray of water intothe scrubber chamber 3, the gas delivery pipe 36 extending into thelower part of said chamber, and gas outlet pipe 40 extending from theupper part of said chamb er to scrubber 41. From the lower part of thechamber 3 a pipe 42leads into a conduit 43 filled with water andcommunicating with the chamber 3 so that the water supply to saidchamber will flow off through this and the relative amount of conduit toa sump 50 carrying with it the carbon black deposited in the chamber 3.

The supplementary scrubber 41 may consist of a-v casing or chamberprovided with two, preferably horizontal, partitions 45 between which iscontained a mass 45 of divided water-proof material, for example, zincshavings, mineral wool, or the like, a water supply connection 46 4beingprovided to the upper part of the casing 41, and an outlet 48 beingprovided from the lower part of said casing into a run-off sluice 49.The two sluice ways 43, 49 are continued, re-

spectively, to sumps 50, 51 wherein the lamp black collects and can beskimmed olf from time to time.

The exhauster 4 may be of any suitable type and is adapted to draw thegaseous products from the delivery pipe of the generator system andforce it to any suitable holderuor directly to an engine or anyotherconsumption means as may be desired, it being understood that theexhauster has sufficient capacity to maintain a condition of suctionthrough the entire generating and scrubbing system. The retort chamber 1is provided with suitable man hole, to enable access to the chamber, forexample in starting combustion therein. For this purpose combustiblesare introduced through the man hole and are ignited to bring the 'retortchamber to a high temperature.

The operation is as follows: The retort chamber 1 is iirst brought to ahigh. temperature by starting combustion therein, the purge valve 19bein at this time open. Oil and air-are then a mitted at burner 6 andinlet 5, exhauster 4 is set in operation and purge valve 19 is closed sothat the ex-v hauster draws air through the inlet 5. Oil pump 7furnishes the oil under suiiicient pressure to cause the same tov beatomized and discharged in a divided vjet in the furnace chamber andafter the operation is fully under way this ei'ect is increased by thefact that the oil is heated in the means 9 so as to present considerableelastic pressure causing its sudden expansion when 'scharged from theburner. The air supply is so controlled by the means 14 that the amountof air passing into the chamber 1 under the suction produced by theexhauster is suiiicient only to -support combustion of a portion of thehydrocarbon oil supplied through the burner 6 so that the major portionof the oil is un- 4consumed and passes up through the delivery pipe 16as a combustible gas, a portion of the carbon of the oil being at thesame time set free and passing through the said pipe along with thegas.` The manner in which the decomposition of the oil roceeds as ancarbon black produced depends on t e temperature at which the operationis carried on, and this, in turn, depends on the degree-of suctionproduced by the eXhauster. For a given amount of suction or rate ofoperation of the exhauster 4 increase of the oil supply results inlowering the temperature and infact it is possible to carry this tosuchY an vextent that considerable tarry matter will be produced. On theother hand, if the oil supply is maintained constant and the rate ofoperation, or the suction, of the exhauster 4 is increased withresultant increase in the amount of air passing into the chamber by yreason of'the increased difference of pressure in the outsideatmospheric air and the i found that the gas produced is lighter incharacter. being relatively free from illuminating gases and there is acorresponding increase in the amount of lamp black, the illuminatinggases having been brolen up into thinner gases and free carbon. Themanner in which the process is carried on will therefore depend on theproducts most desired, thatis to say, whether the plant is operatedprimarily as a gas making plant or as a carbon black plant, or as a.combination of the two. As the lamp black passes over, as stated,J insubstantially dry condition, it is possible to save the same, or themajor portion thereof, in a dry separator such as shown at 2. the lampblack being de osited on the cool surface of the pipes 20 an beingremoved therefrom from tlrne to time by the Scrapers or cleaners 31which'are pushed along the pipe and turned to dislodge the carbon blackand cause it to fall in the pipes 20 and into the hoppers 22. The pipes20 are used alternately, the valve 35 in the Y# connection being turnedto direct t-he flow from one or the other of said pipes and the valve 26at. the top of the pipes being similarly operated to direct the How fromthe retort into the pipe 20 which is being used for the time being.`When either pipe 20 is thus cutolf the carbon black may be clearedtherefrom as above stated. the slide valve 23 at the bottom of said pipebeing open to enable the carbon black to fall into the hopper 22 andthen after closing said slide valve the lamp black may be removed fromthe valve to the hopper by opening valve 24. Such of the carbon black asis not deposited in the dry separator 2 passes along with the gas intothe scrubber 3 where nearly all of it is washed from the gas by means ofthe jet of water and is carried away in the sluice way 43 to sump 50. Asmall proportion of the carbon black is not .separated from the gas bythe action of the spray and this portion will be taken up in thesupplementary scrubber 4l, the carbon black adhering to the wet surfaceof the zinc shavings, etc. and being washed therefrom by the watersupplied atr the tp of the casing 41 and being carried away by thesluice way 49 into the sump 51.

It will be seen that the carbon black is separated from the' gas inthree different stages and in general the three. different sets ofcarbon black so separated will be of different quality or grade and willbe adapted for different uses. 'i f The above described gas generator isespecially adapted for use in a power plant, as shown in Fig. 5, the gasengine, indicated at 54, serving in thatcase, as the exhauster for thesystem and thegenerator furnishing the gas for the engine. In such aplant it is desirable to provide for automatic regulation of the oil andair supply in correspondence with the demands of the engine so that theproper condition of suction may be maintained in the retort, as thecorrect operation according to the principles above set forth, dependson the maintenance of a'. definite condition of suction. For thispurpose, the governor of the gas engine is connected by connections 56,57, 58, 59, with-the fuel supply valve and the air supply damper 14.

What we claim is:

1. The process of producing carbon black together with combustible gas,which consists in producing a condition of suction in a combustionchamber, continuously Asupplying petroleum to said chamber, admitting arestrictedquantity of air to said chamber to cause partial combustion ofthe petroleum, the condition of suction in the chamber being such thatthe resulting temperature is suiiciently high to substantially break upthe tarry matter and to cause the unconsumed petroleum to be decomposedsubstantially into combustible gas and free carbon, drawing o' thecombustible gas to maintain the condition of suction in the combustionchamber, and delivering such combustible as. g 2. The process ofproducing carbon black together with combustible gas, which consists inproducing a condition of suction in a combustion chamber, continuouslysupplying petroleum to said chamber, admitting a restricted quantity ofair to said chamber to cause partial combustion of the petroleum,

the condition of suction in the chamber loe-V ing such that theresulting temperature is sutiiciently high to substantially break up thetarry matter and to cause the uncon- 3. The process of producing carbonblack together lwith combustible gas, which consists in producing acondition of suction in a combustion chamber, continuously supplyingpetroleum to said chamber, admitting a restricted quantity of air tosaid chamber to cause partial combustion of the petroleum,

-the condition of suction in the chamber being lsuch that the resultingtemperature is suiiciently high to substantially break up the tarrymatter and to cause the unconsumed petroleum to be decomposedsubstantially into combustible gas and free carbon, .drawing off thecombustible gas to maintain the condition of suction in the combustionchamber, and delivering such combustible gas, exposing the gas to theaction of a cooling surface to se arate carbon black therefrom, andremoving the carbon .black from' su ciently high to substantially. breakup f the tarry matter and to cause the unconsumed petroleum to bedecomposed substantially into combustible gas and free carbon,drawing'off the combustlble gas to maintain the condition of suction inthe combustion chamber, and delivering 4such combustible gas, exposingthe gas to the action of a coolmg surface to separate carbon blacktherefrom, and removing the carbon black from such cooling surface, andsubsequently subjecting the gas to the action of water to separate anadditional portion of carbon black therefrom.

5. The process of making a carbon black which consists in effectingpartial combustion of petroleum at suflicient temperature to decomposethe tarry matter and to produce hot gasescontaining free carbon, andapplying water to the gases to reduce the temperature thereof and toseparate the carbon in the form of finely divided carbon black.

In testimony whereof, have hereunto set our hands at Los Angeles,California, this 17th day of March 1909. WARREN H. FROST.

JOSHUA J. NIX. In presence of- ARTHUR P. KNIGHT,

FRANK L. A. GRAHAM.

